Second Chances: Love Nibbles (6 page)

“I’m thinking about taking the summer and going to Wales.” Camilla changed the subject, determined to divert Barb’s attention from dissecting her sex life, not to mention distracting herself from thoughts of Ryan. “I’m hoping to get grant money and do some writing while I’m there.”

“Excellent!” Barb seized on the idea of travel with equal enthusiasm. “That’s just what you need, to get away from this town for a while. Seeing some of the world will give you perspective. You could take your boy-toy with you and make it a
really
great time.” She laughed and Camilla couldn’t help but smile. Barb had the heartiest, most infectious laughter of anyone she’d ever met.

“You’re enjoying the hell out of this, aren’t you?”

“You’d better believe it.”

Camilla flopped down on the couch with her arms spread along the back and exhaled a long breath. Staring at the open expanse of wall between the windows, she envisioned the shelves Ryan had suggested covered with books, art objects and plants. It really would be a fantastic use of the space and solve a lot of her overcrowding problems.

Of course, thinking of him building the shelves reminded her of his big, strong hands gliding over her body, touching all her intimate places, delving deep inside her. She shuddered. He invaded her mind and she was helpless to drive him out.

Maybe Barb was right and there was no harm in seeing him again, perhaps hiring him to build her shelving unit, and maybe even going on a date.

Barb set the candlesticks aside and reached into the box for the china teapot that had belonged to Camilla’s grandmother. “This is beautiful. Why haven’t I seen it before?”

“We used Sam’s mother’s bone china so I kept this packed away. I kind of forgot about it.”

“Seems like you kind of forgot about a lot of things when you were with Sam. Things you liked, things you planned to do, adventures you wanted to have.”

Camilla didn’t reply. They’d had a similar conversation before. It was too familiar and pointless now since Sam was no longer a part of the equation. All her decisions were her own now. Did she really want to dive right back into the negotiations and compromises being half of a couple meant? Although Ryan hadn’t exactly asked her to be a couple. Maybe he could simply be a diversion.

Barb put down the teapot and came over to drop onto the couch beside Camilla. “I’m being a bitch to you. Sorry. You know I can never keep my big mouth shut, and this moving guy thing is just too delightful. But seriously, don’t let your inhibitions stop you. So what if he’s younger? So what if you start to care and maybe even get your heart broken? At least you’ll know you’re still alive. Sometimes you’ve got to take chances.”

Easy for Barb to say when her life was full and her relationship with her husband solid, but spreading wings after being flightless and sheltered in a safe nest for a long time wasn’t easy.

Camilla nodded because it was easier to agree with Barb, and because she was half convinced her friend was right. At that moment her cell phone rang. She checked caller ID. It was Ryan.

Her heart fluttered like hummingbird wings, too fast and erratic. She considered letting the call go to voice mail, then quickly, before she could change her mind, she answered. “Hello?”

“Camilla. Hi. This is, uh, Ryan.”

“Yes. Hi.” She couldn’t think of one word to say. Her vocal cords were paralyzed and her brain frozen.

He spoke in a rush. “I know I promised not to call. I left the ball in your court and you made it clear you weren’t going to throw it back, but it’s been a few days and I thought ‘what the hell’. I wondered if you’d like to go out. On a date. No sex. Just dinner and a movie or, uh, bowling or whatever.”

“Bowling?” She laughed.

“Yeah, bowling. Bowling alleys are making a big comeback.” He laughed too. “So would you? Go out with me?”

Camilla glanced at Barb who was literally on the edge of her seat, eyes crinkling at the corners from her big grin.

“I guess.” Camilla inhaled and tried again with less doubt in her voice. “I mean, sure. I’d love to.”

“Great.”

He named a time and place to meet and the conversation fumbled to an awkward conclusion. It felt strange backing up to first date status when they’d already seen every inch of each another naked.

“You go, girl,” Barb said after she’d hung up.

“Don’t start teasing again or I’ll kick you out and you’ll miss all the fun of unpacking.”

Barb made a motion of zipping her lips. “But afterward you have to keep me updated. I’m living vicariously through you and I want to know all the sexy details.”

Camilla couldn’t stop smiling as visions of many sexy details about Ryan danced in her head.

“We’re going bowling. There won’t be anything exciting to tell.”

Chapter Seven

“I never thought the smell of old fry grease and bowling shoes was particularly erotic,” Camilla gasped as Ryan stopped kissing her long enough to unbutton the fly of his jeans.

“It’s the sound of the ball hitting the pins that makes me hot,” he teased. “Something about hearing a strike pumps me up.”

“We can’t do this here! I’ve never done anything like this in my life.” Her back was flat against the wall of a restroom stall, one foot on the toilet seat, her panties dangling from the other ankle.

“Filthy, isn’t it? Not the john. The idea of it.” He murmured against her neck as he pressed against her.

He reached down to release his erection and quickly rolled on a condom.

“No sex, huh?” Camilla said. “You promised just bowling tonight.”

“Doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”

Her body was on fire as he reached under her skirt and fingered her drenched pussy. Sex in a public restroom was so dirty and wrong and forbidden…and so exciting it made her blood hum and her heart race.

“Someone could come in any second.” Her fear added to the thrill.

“Door’s locked,” Ryan panted as he thrust. He gripped the top of the stall on either side and pounded into her. Camilla braced her feet and ground back. With no more foreplay than a few mouth-watering kisses, she was completely ready and open.

He grunted as he pushed hard. She responded with whimpering moans. “Oh yes. Right there. Like that!”

Her words spurred him like flicks of a whip, driving him faster and deeper.

She bit back her sobbing cries. Too loud! What if someone in the bowling alley heard her moaning things like “Fuck me!”

Ryan suddenly groaned and thrust so deeply Camilla lost her footing on the toilet seat. She wrapped her ankle around him as he collapsed against her, crushing her against the wall.

Her intensity reached its peak and climax rocketed through her. Everything she thought she knew about her sexual side and what she liked or needed exploded. Her orgasm was nothing less than cathartic. Tears mingled with her sudden laughter.

She pressed her mouth against soft cotton T-shirt and hard muscle. “That was unbelievable.”

Ryan laughed too as he set her back on her feet. The sound of someone trying the door handle slapped the smiles off both their faces. They hurried to adjust their clothes and find Camilla’s shoe which had fallen off, while the intruder knocked on the door.

“Just a minute!” Camilla called, grateful the ladies’ room had a door lock as well as individual stalls.

She pulled up her underwear and straightened her skirt, checked to make sure Ryan was presentable, then opened the door.

The girl on the other side was already giving Camilla a strange look about the locked door before she spotted Ryan behind her. The girl’s eyes opened wide.

“Sorry. My boyfriend was helping me with an issue. My, um, contacts. I had something in my eye.” Camilla mumbled. She grabbed Ryan’s hand and they hurried back to the alley where pins crashed and players whooped. “So much for our evening of innocent fun.”

He wrapped an arm around her. “I thought we’d be safe in a bowling alley, but your sexuality is too powerful. I couldn’t resist it.”

Laughter percolated through her again. She felt as bubbly as soda, young and carefree and light.

“Ready for another game?” Ryan asked when they reached their lane. “I can have them put the gutter guards down this time if that will help.”

“Hey, I don’t need gutter guards. I bowl just fine.”

“Sure you do.” He stooped and kissed her with a soft, warm brush of his lips, then rested his forehead against hers. “I’m glad you gave me another chance.”

She smiled. “Thanks for asking me out. But I want you to know, I was about to call you.”

“Yeah?”

“I figured, what the hell, it’s time to try something new. Time to move on.”

Epilogue

Camilla gazed at the empty shelves, white lines against the pale green wall. The shelves Ryan had built for her looked spacious and inviting. She couldn’t wait to fill them with books, old favorites and several new ones she’d picked up.

She opened a box and took out her favorite Austen volume, set it on one of the lower shelves then stood back to admire it. The job was going to take a long time if she worked this slowly, but she had plenty of time. She had the entire summer. A sabbatical from her job. Soon she’d leave for her trip to England. Finally she’d see places she’d only read about and explore the homeland of some of her favorite authors as she’d always planned to do.

She wouldn’t say it was all because of Ryan, though he’d had an awful lot to do with opening her up to possibilities in life. He wouldn’t be making the trip with her, but that was all right. This was about finding out who she was other than Sam’s wife or an English professor. This move was about finding herself.

The doorbell rang and she began to smile even before she opened it.

Ryan waited on her doorstep. Her heart did a slow flip as it always did at the sight of him. The T-shirt stretched across his chest bore the logo
Stanfield Plumbing
.

“I understand you need a pipe tightened. I’m here to service you.”

“I think you have the wrong apartment. I was expecting a guy named Morty with a big belly and a couple of inches of ass crack showing.”

“I’d be happy to show you my ass crack, ma’am.” He pulled her into his arms and cut off her laughter with kisses that made her head light and her body heavy with desire.

After several moments, she drew away and caught her breath. She took his hand and led him into the living room where the Austen volume sat alone on its white shelf.

“Thanks again for my shelves. They’re beautiful.”

“Very nice. Is that the only book you’re planning on keeping?” He hugged her against his side.

“Bit by bit. It’s a work in progress.” She leaned into him. “How is working for your dad going?”

“Better pay than the moving company, but I think he’s expecting I’ll settle in and forget all this stagecraft nonsense. That’s not going to happen.”

She nodded. After Ryan finished his degree he’d pursue work that might perhaps take him far from her. But if that happened it would be all right. And, who knew, if their feelings for each other grew even deeper maybe she’d move with him to wherever he went. All paths were open to her.

For right now, they were together and would make the most of every minute they could share. She turned, slid her hands up to his shoulders, and tipped her head back to look into his face. “Hey, do you want to help me unpack my books? I have some erotica in there you might enjoy.”

“No shit?”

“Hot, perverted nineteenth century prose. Art porn. You’ll love it.”

“You’ll read it to me in bed? Naked?”

Her voice grew husky. “I’ll tie you to the bed posts and read until you come from the sound of my voice.”

His pale green eyes darkened with lust and he exhaled a shaky breath. “I’m halfway there already.”

She chuckled. Ryan caught her chin in his hand and gazed into her eyes. “I knew when I first saw you that you’d be even more beautiful when you laughed.”

His warm mouth pressed against hers, his tongue gliding gently between her lips. Oh, how he could kiss. She gripped his hair and kissed him back for many beautiful minutes.

At last, she pushed him away. “Go on. Get something to eat, while I find the book I’m thinking of.”

He walked toward the kitchen, and Camilla sorted through the box of books, stacking those she loved in one pile and stories she’d outgrown in another. She found the Victorian erotica and smiled as she read several passages. It would enhance their afternoon’s pleasure nicely.

Rising, she looked around the living room,
her
living room in
her
apartment which now felt like home. She’d changed the couch for something more contemporary and given up on finding a spot for that still life. She’d gotten rid of many things she used to think were indispensable. The only boxes left in the room contained books.

Once more she surveyed the expanse of empty white shelves waiting to be filled. They were wide open and inviting, exciting in their possibility.